


Carry Me Home

by 353_Promises



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Angst, Canon Compliant, Canon Divergent After Chapter 3, Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, Fluff, Love, One Shot Collection, Through the Years, Vignette
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-16
Updated: 2019-09-16
Packaged: 2020-10-20 00:11:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,039
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20666111
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/353_Promises/pseuds/353_Promises
Summary: A normal life.One perfectly untouched. Unharmed. Unexplained.It was an unfathomable reality. It was one that seems intangible. One after another was whisked from their grasps so effortlessly that it seemed that it was fate for them to not be together.But then again, fate always seemed to bring them back to each other.Aka Mike and El through the years. Although they get separated and fear loss, they always come back stronger together.





	Carry Me Home

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! I am new to AO3 and I am excited to share my works with you. I love Mileven, as obvious from my username, and I love writing oneshots . This story is a spanning collection of oneshots that will take you through Mike and El's journey of getting separated but then reuniting. The first three chapters are canon compliant and based off the first three seasons. After that, it becomes my individual thoughts on what may happen or what I would like to see happen in the future. I hope you all enjoy!

A normal life.   
One perfectly untouched. Unharmed. Unexplained.   
It was an unfathomable reality. It was one that seems intangible. One after another was whisked from their grasps so effortlessly that it seemed that it was fate for them to not be together. 

But then again, fate always seemed to bring them back to each other. 

**November 1983**

Mike Wheeler stumbled over his words. As he so often does when he's nervous. That whole week had just been a blur… something so vastly different that he didn’t realize how mundane his life seemed before.

Before Will’s disappearance. 

Before the realization that there were other worlds in existence.

Before El. 

As he sat there on the wooden bench, close enough that their knees were an inch from touching, his leg bounced in a steady rhythm. Her honey brown eyes were large with curiosity and wonder. 

“See, I was thinking that once all this is over and Will is back and you’re not a secret anymore, my parents can get you an actual bed for the basement. Or you can take my room if you want since I’m down there all the time anyways.” 

He couldn’t help but grin at the mere possibility of having her stay with them. Like actually stay with them. For some reason, it made his heart race and set butterflies loose in his stomach. “My point is, they’ll take care of you. My mom and dad will be like your new parents. And Nancy, she’ll be like your new sister.” 

Her eyes widened the slightest bit as she quietly replied, “Would you… be like… my brother?” 

Just the thought of it shocked him so much that he immediately denied it. “What?! No. No…” 

“Why no?” She questioned.

“Because…” He struggled to come up with an explanation on the spot. “Cause it’s different.” 

“Why?” 

He sighs, unable to explain himself. “I mean, I guess it’s not… it’s stupid…” He mumbles, embarrassed, looking away. 

But she doesn’t accept this explanation, looking at him expectantly. “Mike.” 

He looks up suddenly. “Yeah?” 

“Friends don’t lie.”

He sighs again, knowing he can’t get out of this. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to tell her. He just didn’t know how. “I was thinking…” He started slowly, trying not to stumble over his words even further. “Maybe we can go to the Snowball… together.” 

“Snowball?” She furrowed her eyebrows in a confused manner.

“Its this cheesy school dance where you go in the gym and dance to music and stuff.” He provides a basic explanation. “I’ve never been, but I know you’re not supposed to go with your sister.” 

El looks even more confused. “No?” 

Mike suddenly feels even more nervous as she continues to ask more questions. He knew where she was getting at. “I mean… you can, but it would be really weird. You go to school dances with someone that… you know. Someone that you… like.” 

There. He said it. 

“A friend?” El asks. 

“Not a friend. Someone like a… Someone like…Like a…” He gives up, unable to explain through words. So instead he lets his actions speak for him.

Before he even realizes he’s doing it, he leans forward and captures her lips in a quick, but meaningful kiss. He pulls back less than a second later, his mind and heart racing a mile a minute and his energy ignited. 

She looks at him, eyes wide, unsure of what just happened, but then she smiles softly, and he knows he did the right thing. Now she knows, even if not completely.   
He didn’t even get to contemplate his feelings further as headlights gleamed into the cafeteria. 

Everything after was a blur. It didn’t seem real. So much adrenaline in the air. So much happening all at once. 

Heavy footsteps.

El’s hand tightly in his grip as they raced to escape. 

Guns pointed. 

People dead. 

El collapsing in exhaustion. 

The bad men… surrounding them. 

The Demogorgon bursting through the wall, as if summoned through an unmarked portal. 

And then they ended up locking themselves in Mr. Clarke’s science classroom. Ready to face the monster. Confident that they would survive. Mike not so confident, about protecting El, whose face was smeared in blood and skin was nearly translucent, exposing the contrast of circles under her eyed and the veins beneath her skin. He took his hands in hers again, trying to comfort her in any way he knew how. He spoke softly as if the shots were a distant memory and the world they knew wasn’t shifting. He made promises that he knew he would do anything keep.

“We’ll be home soon. And my mom, she’ll get you your own bed. You can eat as many eggos as you want.”

She squeezed his hand, smiling softly even though tears escaped her eyes. He felt his heart start to break even though he continued to speak, making these promises for himself too. Trying to hold on to the final strands of hope that he had left. 

“And… we can go to the Snowball” 

This was his way of saying, we can stay together. We can figure it out. We can be happy. 

“Promise?”

_“Promise.”_

Everything seemed to move in slow motion from that point, yet time passed in an instant. Mike felt disconnected from his body as the events started to hit.  
Dustin was screaming. 

Lucas tried to take action. 

The monster burst through the door. Ready to strike. They were ready to fight. Fight for all they had in the only way they could at twelve years old. 

But El was there first, pinning Mike to the wall behind him and freezing Lucas and Dustin, trying to save them. Keeping them safe but facing danger head-on as she willingly sacrificed herself for them. 

_"Goodbye, Mike..."_

He didn’t even have the capacity to make meaning of her words. He just froze, tears trailing down his cheeks as she screamed. Screamed in a heart-wrenching way that would haunt his dreams and echo in his surroundings when he woke up. 

He shut his eyes tightly, not wanting to see what was to come next. 

But when the echoes faded, and the lights stopped blinking and he opened his eyes…

She was already gone.


End file.
